Derivation of the botanical name:
Iris, ιριϛ, ιδοϛ, rainbow; female messenger, announcer of the gods, the Greek goddess of the rainbow.
vartanii, after Dr. Kaloost Vartan, of Nazareth (1839-1908), an Armenian doctor who qualified from Edinburgh University, and opened the first Nazareth Hospital in a small rented house in 1879. The dispensary he set up was the only hospital between Jersualem, Damascus and Beirut.
Dr. Kaloost Vartan was a leading pioneer of preventive medicine in Palestine.

The standard author abbreviation Foster is used to indicate Sir Michael Foster (1836 - 1907), an English physiologist and Member of Parliament.